Today, I bring you the British Longhorn.
Now, I know that a lot of you over in the yooo ess of eh will immediately be thinking of your own longhorn cattle, but the Texas Longhorn is of a different lineage altogether.
These cattle are easily recognised from other horned cattle by their white spinal colouring, the one constant in otherwise varied coat colours. The white is also seen on the underside. In earlier times, they served as draught cattle as well as for both meat and milk production. As with so many breeds, the current 'standard' was only started to be formalised in the mid-eighteenth century. The focus tended to be on beef growth, but as the milk of these cattle is also highly prized for butter making, there is a strong dairy strain in the breed, too.
Despite their appearance, these are considered to be among the more docile cattle for handling, though, of course, one must always be respectful of them, for they are also among the largest and heaviest!
I mentioned the milk quality - these are also known as good mothers, and it was with sheer delight that I was able to witness a suckling calf... Nothing screams nature more than the mum-and-bub cycle of life...
